On the reverse of a bronze coin dated to the time of the Roman emperor Hadrian (117–138 A.D.), the figure to the right is Thrace (Thracia), depicted deified wearing a short chitoniskos. She holds a patera (a vase for libations) in her right hand. She prepares to make a libation over a lighted and garlanded altar in the center. Behind the altar is a bull that is going to be sacrificed. To the left, the emperor Hadrian stands, facing Thrace. He wears the Roman toga and raises his right hand. He holds an eilitarion (a papyrus scrolled around an axis) in his left hand. The inscription "Adventui Augusti Thraciae Senatus Consultum" (ADVENTVI AVG THRACIAE // S C) means that an adventus (Roman welcoming ceremony) of the emperor to the province of Thrace was held, according to a decree of the Senate.
On the obverse, there is a portrait of the emperor Hadrian. There is also the inscription "Hadrianus Augustus, Consul Tertium, Pater Patriae" (HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P), that is, "the emperor (Augustus) Hadrian, Consul for the third time, Father of the Homeland (literally fatherland).
Caption Bronze sestertius of the Hadrian age with Thrace and Hadrian during a sacrifice
Mythic people Thrace (Nymph)
Type Coin
Artist/Creator mint of Rome
Current position British Museum, London
Index number 1888,1108.1
Dating 130-138 AD
Notes
coin | British Museum 1888,1108.1
RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 1799-1800
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Myths